Flying top



Dec. 16, 1 947. Y F. L l-:FUSTEC FLYING Tor Fled Aug. 29,- 1945 1 N VEN TOR. ,Lf/va/va .LEFusrEcz Patented Dec. 16, 1947 UNITED STATT-51s- PATENT oFFlcE FLYING TOP Fernand Lefustec, Paris, France Application Augusti29, 1945, Serial No. 613,237

In France1February19gv1945 t 2 Claims. 1.

The. present invention has for its subject matter a toyconsttutedby a :dying tcp and the means for throwing it and` possibly catching it ull aLenin. Y

The said top fundamentallyy comprises a disc or a. multibladed propeller provided at least on one ot itsa faces with a central shaft preferably weighted at, its. end.

The spinning of such a top may be eiiected either manually or by means ci a mechanical multiplying device.

The propeller or disc is made, of any material possess'nga sufficient rigidity, for instan-ce, thi-n metal sheet, but. preferably of a comparatively light. material. such as a plastic. material and one which, can. be coloured in` order to obtain an artistic eiiect.. IfV the top is; made of cardboard or other similar material itis advantageous to maintain4 its, centre and the` root or its blades clamped between two. metallic discs, the` periphery ci' which, are. provided with radial extension to cover the, roots of the. blades, said extensions being twisted according to the profile of said roots. The blades of the. propeller can be ringed,` which. givesV rise to a gyroscopic elect and, moreu over, renders the toy harmless in case of a cole lision with persons or objects..

With the ilying top proper and, possibly, with its mechanical throwing apparatus may be com bined, if desired, a support intended to make it possible to receive the flying propeller in the air while keeping it in rotation.

Such, a device may be further completed by providing the said support with hollows oi comparatively' small' depth and, preferably, with laring; edges and in which the flying propeller can either be received directly when falling down or into; which it, can be brought after having been received' on the surface of' the support. The hol'- lows provided in this` manner. in4 said. support will have equal or different dimensions, the hollows with the, smallest diameter being provided with larger scoring numbers than the hollows of larger dimensions.

The support, which may be made of metal, of veneered wood, of plastic material or any other material capable of playing the same part car also be embellished with any ornaments capable of giving it a more pleasant aspect than if it were uniformly of the same colour.

It will be possible, for example, to represent on it an airplane seen in a horizontal projection or in anelevational side View or front View or perspective view, the hollows intended for receiving the air propeller being preferably located in the place. where the propellers of the apparatus would normally be represented.

It is also possible to use at the same time` for throwing the top and receiving i-t again., a. support not only provided with the hollows into which the top can be brought after having been received on the said support, but, also combined withv the device for putting the top. in rotation.

The` device for putting the top in rotation and throwing it in the air is preferably arranged beneath the support- The execution of the top andA of the throwing devices will. now be explained more particularly in the, examples given hereafter with referencetothe appended drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a partial plan View of one form oi top..

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the sametaken on the line 2, 2 of Figure l.

Figure 3-is a partial plan View of another form 0f topf.,

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional View taken on line 1?., 4` of the saine.

Figure 5 is a plan view from above of a support. accordi-ng. to my invention, and-` Figure 64V is a partial bottom View oi the: same..

Briefly the practice of my invention I` pro vide a top comprising a propeller having any desired number and shape of blades andv which may or not have a ring surrounding the tips of the blades, said top having a shaft whichis. pro-` vided with an. axial bore and is weighted at its lower end, and the outside of whichv is provided with a series oi longitudinal grooves. In combination with this top I provide a support which may, for example, resemble a ping pong paddle. provided with means for imparting a spinning. motion tothe top and having a number oi depressions or apertures in which the` spinning. top may be received for scoring purposes.

In Figure. 1 I have. shown. a topf having a number of, blades I-I). the tips of which are surrounded,

by a ring Il, for the purposes, of avoiding injury to persons or objects by' the. spinning blades. The top is provided with a shaft I2, a portion of which is provided with external longitudinal grooves I3 forming teeth so that the portion I3 may be viewed as a pinion. The shaft I2 is provided with an axial bore I4 so that the top may be received on a spindle as will be described hereinafter. The lower portion of the shaft is preferably weighted, although adequate weight may be provided simply by the enlargement incident to the provision of the teeth I3. In the particular embodiment shown the propeller is held to the shaft by means of a screw I entering the upper portion of the bore I4' which is threaded.

In the modification of Figures 3 and 4 the propeller does not have a surrounding ring II and may be made of cardboard or similar light material. In this case I prefer to clamp the propeller between two discs I6 of metal or similar material, said discs having radial extensions I1 which are twisted slightly as indicated at I8 in Figure 4 to give the desired pitch to the blades ID. In other respects the top of Figures 3 and 4 is the same as that of Figures 1 and 2.

The support is indicated in Figures 5 and 6 as having a handle I9 and a flat top receiving surface 26. The upper surface is preferably provided with a number of depressions or apertures indicated generally at 2| and 22 for receiving the spinning top and provided with scoring indicia as shown in Figure 5. Substantially centrally of the surface 20 I provide an aperture 23 which may also be provided with a scoring numeral as shown in Figure 5.

Referring now to Figure 6, which is an underneath view of the support, I provide a toothed sector 24 which is pivoted to the support 20 at 25 and is provided with a handle portion 26. Spring means are provided for urging the sector 24 in a counterclockwise direction as seen in Figure 6. In the particular embodiment illustrated there are two spring means working together. A coil spring 21 is attached to the sector 24 as at 28 and is attached to a washer 32 as at 29. The washer 32'loosely surrounds a bolt 33 fastened to the vane 29. In addition I have shown a piece of spring wire 30 having several turns about the point 25 and having one end engaged behind an upwardly struck lip 3i of the sector and having its other end hooked into the washer 32. It will be clear that the two springs 21 and 30 work together to swing the sector 24 in a counter-clockwise direction as seen in Figure 6.

To receive the aperture of the top I provide a bracket 34 fastened to the bottom of the support 20 as at 35 and carrying a spindle 36 extending centrally of the aperture 23. The end of the bracket 34 may be bent back toward the surface of the vane as at 31 to provide a retainer for the toothed sector 24.

When it is desired to spin the top, the top is placed in the aperture 23 with the bore I4 engaging over the spindle 36. If now the handle 26 is moved in a counter-clockwise direction as seen in Figure 5 the teeth of the sector 24 engage the grooves or teeth I3 and spin the top. The top will not rise, however, on account of the pitch of the blades. If now the handle 26 be released, the sector 24 under the inuence of the spring 27 and 39 will swing rapidly in a clock-wise direction imparting a spinning motion to the top. Depending upon the weight of the top and the strength of the springs the top will rise out of the aperture 23 to a greater or less height as soon as the sector 24 is disengaged from the teeth I3.

it a rapid twisting motion between the thumb an-d ngers and while the top may be spun by the support device and then permitted to continue spinning upon the floor, a preferable game is to endeavor to catch the flying top on the flat surface 20 of the support. The top will continue to spin on the support and by tilting the support in one direction 01 another it is possible to cause the top to spin into one of the depressions or apertures 2|, 22 and 23. As an example of a game which may be played with the hereinabove described combination, each player may be given three chances and the scores achieved in the three chances added up. If desired a penalty may be established for failure to catch the top on the support 20 by causing the player to lose all points made by him up to that time.

It will be clear that numerous modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention and I, therefore, do not intend to limit myself except as pointed out in the claims which follow. Having now fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A toy comprising in combination, top comprising a propeller having a plurality of balanced blades, and a short central shaft therefor, said shaft being externally longitudinally grooved, an-d the end thereof being weighted and having an axial bore, and 2) a support comprising a plate and a handle therefore, said plate having an aperture substantially centrally thereof, a spindle, means supporting said spindle centrally of said aperture, a toothed sector having an actuating handle pivotally mounted on the underside of said plate for eiective engagement of said teeth with the longitudinal grooves of said top when the latter is positioned on said spindle, and spring means urging said sector in a direction opposite to normal handle movement.

2. A toy according to claim 1 in which said plate is provided on its upper surface with a number of shallow depressions.

(1 a flying F. LEFUSTEC.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PA I 21N TS Number Name Date 1,222,996 Rhodes Apr. 17, 1917 1,356,969 Clifton Oct. 26, 1920 1,558,450 Aronson Oct. 27, 1925 1,701,136 Aronson Feb. 5, 1929 1,802,386 Kline Apr. 28, 1931 1,831,394 Reed Nov. 10, 1931 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 312,107 aly Oct. 21, 1933 

